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Tag Archives: Atlanta BeltLine

One of Jeff Roffman’s photos on Coca-Cola’s Journey site shows a family enjoying Atlanta’s BeltLine.

Coca-Cola‘s online magazine Journey just posted the first part of a two-part feature I wrote on the Atlanta BeltLine, and I hope you’ll click over and read it.

The good folks at Journey gave me plenty of space and the talents of free-lance photographer Jeff Roffman. I wrote it for readers beyond Atlanta who might not know about the BeltLine but will be interested to see how it is progressing and what they can learn from it.

The story also is a good opportunity to check out Journey, which is full of great copy, photos and information about all kinds of things all over the world. It’s a leader in brand journalism/content marketing. And you’ll notice that it’s not all about marketing Coca-Cola. It really is a bright, engaging general-interest magazine — which also includes resources traditionally found on corporate websites.

I was never a big believer in the scientific veracity of “man on the street” interviews. But they can be fun and, as was the case today, illuminating.

Daniel Keiger is a big fan of the BeltLine and hopes it lives up to its full potential.

I found Daniel Keiger lounging in the sun outside Atlanta BeltLine Bicycle. He loves the positive, creative energy the trail fosters, and notes that it just keeps building on itself. Like others I spoke to (and the AJC’s senior managing editor Bert Roughton) he said the permanency of the project could mean it indeed will have a great effect on Atlanta. “There’s apartments going up everywhere here,” he said. “Everything leftover from the Olympics is going to be torn down. You know Turner Field is gonna be gone” with the Braves leaving downtown.

I stopped in for ice cream at Jake’s, because who wouldn’t, and I met a guy behind the counter who gave his name as just Kenya. “I love the BeltLine. It keeps it moving — that energy of it, people expending their energy getting around on their own. I love the area, period. It’s going to do nothing but get better.”

And my favorite quote came from Anthony Spina, who’s moving here from New Jersey to open a pizza shop in the same building as Jake’s (on the Irwin Street end). He told me he chose that location partly because of the trail, and he is proud to live without a car, noting the eco-friendly nature of the BeltLine. He likes seeing folks walking their dogs and jogging, but notes there’s more to it than just recreation. There’s real community, he said. “It’s the culture of the BeltLine. I want to be a part of that.”

Trees Atlanta leads a tour group stopping at the bridge over North Avenue.

The forum at the Mandarin Hotel in Buckhead was put on by The Wilbert Group, a PR agency owned by two of my former colleagues at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Tony and Caroline Wilbert. Another, ex-AJC Business editor Mark Braykovich, further shows the agency’s deep roots in news. The AJC’s senior managing editor, Bert Roughton, was on the panel, along with:

Melissa Long of 11 Alive TV News

Steve Fennessy, editor of Atlanta magazine

Richard Fausset, Atlanta correspondent for The New York Times

Anita Sharpe, Atlanta bureau chief at Bloomberg

Topics included top stories of the year, the upcoming elections, commercial real estate and more. Other highlights tweeted live from the audience included:

I saw a play Saturday night in Atlanta, the premiere of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” at Actor’s Express. It’s a rockin’ good time for the most part, but what struck me most is that this story has been told so many times in so many ways — and it’s still just as juicy.

The tale of sexual politics, cruelty and manipulation set in pre-revolution France started as a novel in 1782. It then became a play and an Oscar-winning movie, “Dangerous Liaisons,” and then another big-time movie, “Valmont,” by an Oscar-winning director. And there was even a teen knockoff in the ’90s called “Cruel Intentions,” with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and a very young Reese Witherspoon.

Rich, mean, sexy people doing nasty things to each other and the innocents around them… juicy dialog ripe for actors to tear into… What’s not to love? Did “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” set the template for soap operas? Maybe not, but it’s easy to see why storytellers in various media keep going back to it, and Actor’s Express handles it admirably. So go and have a fun time at the theater.

Or at least join me in renting “Dangerous Liaisons,” which I haven’t seen in ages.

While I was at the show, I missed the Atlanta BeltLine’s Lantern Parade. I would’ve gone otherwise and I’m sorry I missed it. But here is a great roundup from the great Maria Saporta that does what I would’ve tried to do, but lots better.

And while we’re sharing cool blog posts about cool weekend events in Atlanta, check out this nifty replay in GIFsof the Falcons nail-biter over the Saints from Breslanta.com.